LIME –
The Peruvian judiciary on Thursday ordered 18 months’ preventive detention for former President Pedro Castillo, who is accused of conspiracy, rebellion, abuse of office and serious disturbance of the public peace by attempting to shut down Congress and install an “emergency government” 7.
During the hearing, Chief Justice Juan Carlos Checkley accepted evidence presented by prosecutor Alcides Chinchay against Castillo, who previously agreed with his attorneys not to attend due to alleged irregularities that did not warrant his defense against the prosecution.
At the reading of the verdict, the judge said that Castillo used the message from a week ago to encourage the police and army insurgency with the aim of destroying the judicial system and public institutions such as the Constitutional Court, the Office of the Ombudsman and others to conquer .
He added that the former president “was fully aware of his decision and nevertheless carried it out” along with his former prime minister Betssy Chávez, his former adviser Aníbal Torres and his former interior minister Willy Huerta to “close a serious case commit an attack on the constitutional order, the powers of the state and other institutions”.
The judge described the confiscation of roads and the protests taking place these days in different regions of Peru, which are exacerbating the social crisis and creating a climate of popular tension, as a result of Castillo’s decision to “lead a coup d’état” by the government.
Finally, he mentioned that there was a risk of absconding, since various tax investigations were underway against Castillo for corruption crimes by his government. It was also established that he had applied for political asylum in Mexico, as confirmed by the President of that country, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, at a December 8 press conference.
With the court decision, Castillo will remain at the Directorate of Special Operations (Diroes) headquarters in the Ate district of Lima, where he has been serving the last 10 days of his temporary detention. In the same place sits former President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), who is sentenced to 25 years in prison for crimes against humanity.
Castillo’s legal defense attorney said he would appeal to Peru’s Supreme Court for the former president’s release. They have also taken the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) with the aim of having the country teacher restored to his position and the dismissal handed down by Parliament declared null and void.
During the night it was revealed that the Attorney General’s Office was launching an eighth investigation into Castillo for allegedly taking bribes from a businesswoman to profit from jobs at the Housing Ministry.
The former President is already under investigation for influence activities, criminal organization, aggravated collusion, personal concealment and breach of public tranquility in the cases of Puente Tarata, Petroperú, irregular promotions in the armed forces and the National Police, obstruction in the arrest of fugitives from his government and the alleged plagiarism in his master’s thesis.
reactions
The verdict triggered reactions in Parliament.
Héctor Ventura, a congressman for Bank Fuerza Popular and head of the oversight commission investigating the Castillo government’s alleged acts of corruption, claimed the former president will not only spend 18 months in pre-trial detention, but possibly longer.
“Strong evidence will lead to a harsh sentence that will put him behind bars for many years,” he said.
Parliament’s third vice-president, Alejandro Muñante, added that justice will determine the ex-president’s level of responsibility for the failed coup.
“This is not a final verdict, but a precautionary measure against the former president to allow the judiciary to do its job and make a final verdict within that timeframe,” he said.
Jaime Quito, a member of the left-wing Perú Libre bank that brought Castillo to power, assured that “a preventive detention would take place because today everything is under control, because the only coup that has taken place in the country are those who take out the tanks and declare a state of emergency and a curfew for the country.”
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